Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “client ip”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “client ip”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

IP Locator shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 2 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #2 3 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #3 4 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (200) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 I IP Based Login 500+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 IP Geolocation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 IP Locator 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 16 too high 21 Pronamic Client 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓2 15 too high 22 alx ip statistic 70+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Easy IP Blocker 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar 30K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #24

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.